What is sex – What is sex?

October 1, 2021

Author: Doan Thi Ngoc – Teacher, Hoa Sen University (HSU)

Sex (biological sex)  and gender (social sex or gender) are sometimes used together as gender, although in reality, these two concepts have many different meanings. This article clearly states what the concept of gender is and what are the basic characteristics of gender. 

What is gender? Sex is the biological difference between men and women. In nature, men have a penis and testicles, and women have a clitoris and ovaries. Put another way, gender refers to a set of biological attributes in humans and animals. It is mainly concerned with physical and physiological characteristics including chromosomes, gene expression, hormone levels and function, and reproductive and sexual anatomy. Gender is typically classified as female or male but there are differences in biological attributes including sex and how those attributes are expressed. 

According to a biological lens, there are  three basic gender differences:

First, the difference in appearance. Certainly, with the naked eye, we see the physical difference between men and women. From a biological point of view, this difference is, in general, due to natural genetics. Men often have more testosterone than women. Combined with other sex hormones, men’s bodies are often larger, taller, have heavier bones, have more muscle, and are physically stronger than women. gender. 

In contrast, women often produce a lot of the sex hormone estrogen. Due to the estrogen hormone and some other hormones, women’s bodies are often smaller, softer, less muscular, and often have less physical strength than men. 

Next, the difference in chromosome structure: When born, if we are male, we will carry a pair of XY chromosomes and if we are female, we will carry a pair of XX chromosomes.

Finally, there are differences in the reproductive system between men and women. The reproductive system is the only system that differs between men and women. The reproductive system only becomes active when we are in puberty. During puberty, women begin to have eggs, menstruation, breasts begin to develop, and men begin to have sperm and wet dreams appear. 

The difference in REPRODUCTIVE FUNCTION that men can NEVER do biologically is their vocation: pregnancy, childbirth, and breastfeeding. However, men can do it and even do it very well and are not inferior to any women in the ability to breastfeed, take care of their children, educate and educate them. As you know, our children only develop well when they receive nurturing, teaching, and love from both parents and other loved ones. Recently we have finished learning the concept of gender and basic gender differences. 

The next content we present is  the three basic characteristics of gender 

First, gender characteristics are innate. This means that at birth, all men have common gender characteristics and all women have common gender characteristics as mentioned above. 

The second characteristic of gender is universality. That means women in Vietnam are the same as women in the United States or anywhere else in the world. All women have the same reproductive function.

The final characteristic of gender is that it does not change in space and time. From ancient times until now, women have had a clitoris and ovaries, and men have had a penis and testicles.

In short, in terms of reproduction, only women have the functions of pregnancy, childbirth, and breastfeeding. In terms of physical strength, men and women often have some differences, men often have an advantage over women in terms of physical strength (this does not mean that all men are in good health and not all women are always in good health) also have poor health some women have very strong and very good physical health). The good news is that to improve physical health for both men and women, we should change our thinking by continuously encouraging exercise, eating properly, changing a healthy lifestyle, and educating, nurturing, and taking care of good emotional and social health… from childhood and continuing throughout life. However, biological or physical differences between men and women do not lead to differences in flexibility, intelligence, capacity, and ability at work, as well as the roles and positions of men and women. women in society.

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